Jim Justice: Expect to See Improvements in 10 Months

Democratic Gov.-elect Jim Justice says West Virginians can expect to see some noticeable enhancements to the state's sluggish economy in his first 10 months in office.

Credit Walter Scriptunas II / AP

The billionaire businessman and owner of The Greenbrier resort defeated Republican Bill Cole in Tuesday's election.

Justice said Thursday he doesn't have "a magic wand" for running the state. He tries to run his business dealings on a 10-month schedule, and he says residents should expect by late 2017 to see "real live significant improvements."

Justice says state revenues need to grow significantly, and he hopes to accomplish that across several economic sectors, including agriculture, tourism and the energy industry.

First, Justice needs to get a transition team in place. He's putting that together with consultation from ex-state Democratic Party chairman Larry Puccio.

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Republicans who will hold a rare majority of West Virginia's six statewide offices are already banding together to try to influence yet another Democratic governor and a GOP-controlled Legislature.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was the lone Republican on the six-member Board of Public Works after he was elected in 2012. That number swelled to four with GOP wins in races for secretary of state, auditor and agriculture commissioner.

At the same time West Virginia overwhelmingly picked Republican billionaire political outsider Donald Trump on Tuesday, the state widely preferred a Democratic billionaire political outsider for governor, Jim Justice.

In a stark split-ticket statement, the Mountain State scoffed off Justice's political party label, picked the two businessmen who said the current system is broken, and left its state government in almost the same divide it's currently in.

On a special episode on Viewpoint, the 2016 General Election results are in, but what do they mean for West Virginians today and into the future?

Conservative columnist Laurie Lin, of WVPB's The Front Porch, and West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy's Ted Boettner join host Ashton Marra to discuss the race for governor and the challenges Democrat Jim Justice will face, particularly with the budget, when he takes office in January.

On West Virginia Morning we wrap up election coverage with reporters on the races for Governor and Attorney General and a rundown of the statewide races that were won by Republicans and we'll hear from political analyst Rob Rupp.

That's on West Virginia Morning from West Virginia Public Broadcasting - telling West Virginia's story.